Gov’t set to operate on reenacted budget

The government under the Duterte administration will have to operate on a reenacted budget in 2019, as the Bicameral Conference Committee will not be able to work on the general appropriations on time, it was learned on Monday.

As such, 2019 may well be the first time since 2010 that the government will operate on a reenacted budget.

The last three years of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency, 2008 to 2010, operated on a reenacted budget.

Just like 2010, next year is an election year.

Based on the schedule of the Senate Committee on Finance released by House Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri on Monday, the bicameral panel will be able to approve the proposed P3.757-trillion budget for next year only on Jan. 29, 2019.

Approving the 2019 budget next January instead of December 2018 would mean sets the tone for a reenacted budget, allowing the President to fund previously unfunded items in the proposed 2019 budget approved by Congress.

The 1987 Constitution states that “If, by the end of any fiscal year, the Congress shall have failed to pass the general appropriations bill for the ensuing fiscal year, the general appropriations law for the preceding fiscal year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the general appropriations bill is passed by the Congress.”

The House of Representatives approved the proposed 2019 budget on second reading on October 3, but its third and final reading happened only on Tuesday, November 20. It was submitted it to the Senate only on Monday, November 26.

The schedule provided by Zubiri showed that the Senate Committee on Finance is expected to approve the proposed 2019 budget on December 3, and have it sponsored before the Senate plenary on December 4.

Interpellation is set on December 4 to 12.

However, Congress will adjourn for the Christmas break on December 15 and. The session will resume on Jan. 14, 2019—the day of the Period of Committee and Individual amendments.

If all else goes well, the Senate is expected to approve the proposed budget on second and third reading on Jan. 16, 2019.

The Bicameral Conference Committee, which needs to reconcile the differing provisions of the House and Senate bills, will work on Jan. 18 to 28, 2019—in the run-up to the bicameral panel approval on January 29.

The bill is expected to be ready for the President’s signature on February 7.

House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. earlier said that the House approved the proposed 2019 national budget “in full compliance with all the rules, laws, and jurisprudence in authorizing appropriations” and that the “same fidelity was exercised in crafting the provisions that will guide the budget’s implementation.”

He said there is no downside to a reenacted budget.

“In the event there will be a slight delay in the enactment of the General Appropriations Law for 2019, we are confident that the established rules on the use of the reenacted budget during the short, interim period will apply without affecting the operations of the government, nor curb the delivery of  services to the  people ...” Andaya noted in a statement. —VDS, GMA News